


Role Model

by BadassBurgess



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, F/M, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23161957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadassBurgess/pseuds/BadassBurgess
Summary: It is time for Bayley to return to action, with a new look and a new character. Will the change take her career to the next level? (Established Bayley/Seth relationship)
Relationships: Bayley | Davina Rose/Seth Rollins | Tyler Black





	1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This story takes place in an existing world, following on from my stories The New Authority, The Hugger's Return and I Don't Care Anymore. However, I will be writing it in such a way that new readers can pick the series up with this story without necessarily needing to read the other stories first. Having said that, new readers need to be aware that there is an established relation between Seth Rollins and Bayley. Last time we saw them, they were engaged to be married._

* * *

Bayley Rollins wasn't exactly sure how she felt about the fact that she was hours away from making her return to WWE television. Coming back with a new character on the go home Smackdown episode before the Royal Rumble pay-per-view was a big deal. After three months away, she imagined that her comeback would be much talked about. The sad part about returning to action was that it meant her honeymoon was officially over.

Vince McMahon had given her and Seth a month off for their wedding and honeymoon, which in her case had been added on to a two month injury layoff due to an ankle ligament problem.

The wedding had been an intimate ceremony with only a few family and friends present. It had taken place on an idyllic beach in the Bahamas. Even in late December, the weather there had been warm, making the wedding day perfect in every respect. It was better than anything Bayley could have dreamed of before meeting Seth, the love of her life. He truly made her happy in every conceivable way, and she knew that he felt the same way about her.

Most of the rest of the month-long vacation had been spent either in the hotel's spa or on the beach, meaning that Bayley felt more pampered than she ever had in her life. She also had a fantastic tan, as did Seth.

When they hadn't been relaxing on the beach, they had enjoyed some water sports. They had left the Bahamas as accomplishes jet skiers, and as certified scuba divers. Both of those activities were going to become a regular thing for them to enjoy if Bayley had any say in the matter.

All in all, it had been the trip of a lifetime. At some point, Bayley intended to sort through the hundreds of pictures they had taken and put the best ones into an album, along with their wedding photos. What better way to memorialise a wedding and a vacation that had been so special?

"All of the rent is up to date," Seth said to her. They were in the back of an SUV with blacked out windows, which was taking them to the arena for Smackdown. McMahon had sent the ride to get them from the airport in order to avoid fans seeing them enter the building. Seth was on his phone, apparently looking at the accounts for their business, Bayllins Property Developers. Their business model was to buy run down and abandoned houses at auction, enjoy fixing them up together, then rent them out. So far, they had completed two houses and both were now occupied by paying tenants. Shortly, they would need to look for their next project, she thought.

"Time to look for the next house to renovate soon," she said.

"You know, I was thinking about that a couple of nights back. What do you think to the idea of opening a restaurant?" Seth asked, looking at her.

Bayley was taken by surprise, but instinctively she liked the idea a lot. In addition to the property development company, they also owned a coffee shop called Bean and Gone. The shop was where they had stopped for coffee one day while they had been house hunting in Waukee, Iowa. They had ended up buying a house in Waukee, and had been regular customers of Bean and Gone. When the owners had decided to sell up and retire, Seth and Bayley had jumped on the opportunity to buy it.

"Yes, I'm up for that," Bayley decided. "But, Seth, we don't know anything about running a restaurant."

"We didn't know anything about running a coffee shop," he pointed out. "That's why we find someone who does. We find the right person, hire them, pay them well, and keep them loyal. If we get the right person to run the place for us, we're laughing. They'll make sure the chefs are good, the food is good, and the service is good."

"But we need the right place, in the right location though," Bayley said, thinking as she spoke.

"We do," Seth nodded. "The right place would be somewhere busy. That's why I'm thinking we should look is Des Moines. Waukee is a bit quiet on the restaurant scene."

"It is," Bayley acknowledged. Whenever they were home and decided to eat out, they went to Des Moines. That told her all she needed to know in that regard.

"If you want, we can start looking next time we're home?" Seth suggested. "It might be a while before we find the right opportunity, so we might end up doing another house in the mean time."

"Whatever we work on I'm happy with. As long as we work on it together, I'll enjoy it," Bayley smiled.

"Me too, angel," Seth said. He leaned in for a kiss and they touched their lips lightly together.

A few minutes later, the SUV drove into the parking garage of the arena where Smackdown was going to take place. They got out, and the driver retrieved their cases for them.

"I can't wait to hear about the reactions you get when you walk into the locker room," Seth chuckled as they walked into the building.

"People aren't going to believe it," Bayley giggled. When discussing her upcoming new character with Vince, she had agreed with his opinion that her appearance needed to change, so as to demonstrate a clear differential from the hugger Bayley who had last been seen three months ago. They had agreed that she should get her hair cut. The side ponytail was gone. Indeed, the long hair was gone. She now had a bob, which she actually really liked now that she had it. Seth was still adjusting to the change, but she knew he would get there. The fans, and Bayley's colleagues, were going to be taken properly surprised because she had told no one about it.

On the way to the locker rooms, they received welcomes and marriage congratulations from several members of the backstage team. No one commented on the hair cut, which actually disappointed Bayley. She knew it would be a different story in the locker room, though.

The men's locker room was the first one they came to. It was time for them to part ways. They did so, as ever, with a kiss.

"Have fun," Seth said.

"You too. And get some details from Roman. He's been very quiet the past couple of weeks."

"Will do," Seth promised.

Bayley looked forward to hearing what he could find out about Roman's new relationship. Their friend had been divorced for almost six months now. He had recently started dating again, and of all people, he had chosen the executive of Fox Broadcasting who they had sent to represent them behind the scenes at Smackdown. They certainly couldn't be accused of not showing an interest in the product they were paying big money for. Through the executive, a forty year old very attractive woman of Indian descent called Priti Pilania, they had input into what happened on the show. Exactly how much input was a mystery to the rank and file members of the roster, but rumour had it that if Priti didn't like someone, they were in trouble.

Fox hadn't stopped there, either. They had apparently talked Vince McMahon into having an on-screen Fox Sports Executive character to work in something like a General Manager role. Priti had gotten that gig too, despite having no acting experience to her name that Bayley knew about. Both her and Seth had to admit that she was good at it though. She could cut a good, if not amazing, promo, and she had a certain presence in front of a camera that was very hard to teach. Maybe that was why Fox had picked her to be the executive they sent, Bayley wondered.

Time would tell, she guessed, because thanks to Roman and Priti being together, Bayley and Seth would be able to get the inside track from him on the backstage dealings.

Enough about Roman's love life, Bayley told herself as she reached the women's locker room. It was time for her first big return of the night, and it was time for her friends and colleagues to freak out over her change in appearance. She couldn't wait to see their faces, such would be the shock of her long hair being no more. Even she couldn't remember herself the last time it hadn't been long. No one in WWE had ever seen it shorter, she knew that for a fact.

Bayley walked into the locker room, deliberately making her entrance low profile. It made no difference because Sasha Banks, her best friend, saw her straight away.

"Bay! Oh my god, what did you do?" Sasha cried, ensuring that everyone else's attention went to Bayley immediately.

There was general uproar about the new hairstyle, with some people saying they loved it and others teasing her for it. It was pretty much the reaction that Bayley had expected. She smiled, lapping it up. "I know it seems drastic," she said. "I'm debuting a new character tonight. Vince and I both agreed that this change was a good idea."

"What's the new character?" Mandy Rose asked.

"It's a smartly-dressed pompous businesswoman who thinks she's better than everyone else. She looks down on people, yet she calls herself a role model."

"Sounds about right," Dana Brooke said quietly.

"Excuse me?" Bayley asked incredulously.

"That came out sounding harsher than I wanted it to," Dana said a little apologetically. "What I meant was you are a businesswoman. You talk about business and property a lot, and you can act a bit superior at times. I'm just saying I can see why Vince saw this gimmick for you."

Bayley was surprised and upset by that. It was noticeable that no one dismissed the accusation as ridiculous. She had never wanted to come across like that to anyone. It didn't sound like her at all. She made a mental note to avoid speaking about her business interests to her colleagues as much as possible from now on.

"Ignore her. She doesn't know what she's talking about," Sasha said quietly as she and Bayley walked over to their lockers.

"I kind of think she does, even if she came across really mean about it," Bayley admitted. "Seth and I do spend a lot of time on our business interests, and we talk about them a lot. I never thought about whether it would be annoying for other people."

"Yeah, well, most of us know you well and we know you're not at all like the way you described your new character," Sasha said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Bayley smiled. "Thanks, Sash. And hey, at least I guess I don't need to second guess myself about playing the new role. I should be able to get people to hate me pretty easily by the sound of it."

"Oh, shut up," Sasha laughed. "No one in here hates you. Hopefully the fans soon will though, if that's what you're going for. Now, I want to see pictures from the rest of your vacation. It sucks that I could only be there for the wedding day."

"I know, but I'm so glad you were there," Bayley said as she took out her phone. "I hope you've got plenty of time because we took a lot of pictures!"


	2. Chapter 2

For the past few weeks, WWE had been teasing a big return on Smackdown. The company had discreetly dropped hints which had caused speculation that the returnee was going to be Ronda Rousey. The truth, of course, was different, as the audience were soon going to discover.

The Smackdown episode came on air with a shot Kayla Braxton standing backstage, outside a door that had a plaque fixed to it displaying the Fox logo and the name Priti Pilania. "Welcome to Smackdown Live. I'm Kayla Braxton, and I'm backstage, hoping to get a word with Priti Pilania. Last night, in an exclusive interview the WWE Network, she promised there will be a big name returning to Smackdown tonight. With the Royal Rumble only days away, speculation is rife at to..."

Kayla stopped talking when the door opened. Priti stepped out into the hallway. As ever, she was dressed in a very expensive business suit and heels. This week, she had gone for a black suit and a dark red blouse. She had a natural expression that was somewhere between a smile and smirk. It certainly helped with the portrayal of her on-screen character, who often acted smug and superior towards the wrestlers, who she was technically in authority of. The way she looked at Kayla certainly made it clear that she felt superior to the interviewer. The two women were approximately the same height, significantly shorter than almost all of the roster.

"Ms Pilania, good evening," Kayla said politely.

"Good evening," Priti replied in her very well spoken accent that curiously seemed to lack any kind of regional dialect. It was almost as if she had been coached on how to speak without one.

"You promised a big return tonight. I was wondering if you might be able to tell me who it is?" Kayla asked hopefully.

"No, I can't tell you who it is," Priti replied, seeming a little annoyed by the question. "But if you follow me, you can find out for yourself. I just received a call telling me that they'll be arriving in a few minutes. But you'll need to be seen and not heard, is that understood?"

"Not a problem. We'll come with you," Kayla said. She looked at her cameraman and said, "Let's go."

With that, the intro for Smackdown ran. The show itself started with a match, followed by a commercial break. When the show came back, it was with a shot of the parking garage. A long black limo was just pulling in. Priti Pilania stood there waiting for whoever was in the limo. Kayla Braxton was also in the shot, standing closer to the camera, keeping a respectable distance from the executive.

The limo glided to a stop. A smartly-dressed driver got out and walked around to open the door for his passenger. The cameraman got down low to get a shot of the arrival's feet when they got out of the vehicle.

The feet that appeared were wearing stylish black heels with sparkly diamond straps. They were very glamorous.

As the arrival slammed the limo door shut, the cameraman panned upwards, showing a shapely figure dressed in a dark grey suit. The woman had a light grey blouse on, and a silver necklace that looked like it had to have cost a small fortune. Continuing to pan upwards, the shot eventually revealed the person to be Bayley, complete with her new hair cut. She received a cheer from the fans watching on the big screen in the arena, despite her change in appearance and style. Meanwhile, Bayley had a smile for Priti as they exchanged a handshake.

"Bayley, welcome back to Smackdown. I've been looking forward to this," Priti said.

"Thank you, so have I. If you don't have an objection, I'm going to go out to the ring. I have an announcement to make."

"Please, be my guest," Priti said smoothly. "On behalf of Fox, you have our full backing to elevate the women's division to the next level. People like to talk about what a hard working and inspiring champion Naomi is, but she hasn't convinced me."

"I hear you," Bayley assured her. "Don't worry about it too much. I don't plan on Naomi being the champion for much longer."

As Bayley walked into the building, the look on Priti's face became what was undoubtedly a smirk, indicating that she liked what she had just heard. Kayla Braxton watched Bayley walk away, then looked at the camera with a 'did you see that?' look on her face. No one needed to guess how surprised she was by Bayley's change of appearance.

The arrival segment had been pre-recorded earlier. While it was aired to the viewers, Bayley had been standing in Gorilla, waiting to go out and cut her promo. The TV coverage went back to the arena, where the Smackdown logo was on the big screen. Bayley knew that the commentary team would be discussing her arrival while she supposedly made her way through the backstage areas towards the arena.

After about thirty seconds, her new music began to play. She hadn't even heard it yet herself. It was a rather slow guitar theme with some jazz and synth effects, she heard. There was logic to the style of it, she had to admit. It was a good fit for the arrogant way that she sauntered to the ring. The more she heard of it, the more she liked it. It was hard hitting, but smooth and cool at the same time.

By the time she got to the ring, Bayley figured that most of the audience had realised they were witnessing a heel turn. It was being made pretty clear to them. Now it was her job to drive it home with her promo.

Before fetching a microphone, Bayley walked slowly around the ring, looking out at the fans with a look of contempt and distaste on her face. Thankfully, she hadn't been given a stereotypical promo about hating the fans or whining about them turning their backs on her. She was going to let her attitude do the talking in that regard.

Finally, as her music faded out, Bayley took a microphone from the ring announcer. She noticed some boos, as well as some cheers coming her way, not that she reacted to them. It was time to launch into her promo.

"Three months," she began. "A lot can happen in three months. You can get married and have a long, luxurious honeymoon in three months. You can make a lot of money in three months when you have the kind of business interests that I have. Do you know what else you can do in three months? You can realise what an embarrassment the Smackdown women's division is."

The crowd booed. It wasn't particularly vociferous, but she knew it would likely take some time for the reactions to get stronger.

"I mean, just take a step back for a moment and look at the state of it," she continued, with a face that looked like she had just eaten something very unpleasant. "Naomi is the Smackdown Women's Champion. Naomi. Really?"

More boos came her way. Naomi was a fan favourite, so talking her down was an easy way to get heat.

"And as for the rest of the division? Who are people honestly supposed to be impressed by? Lacey Evans? Please. Alexa Bliss? When was the last time she was relevant? Carmella? Give me a break. I could go on and on, but you get my point. Priti Pilania saw the same problem that I saw while I was away, which is why she called me personally and asked me to hurry back. The problem is that this division is a joke. It needs to be elevated big time. Smackdown's viewers need a role model. Bayley will be that role model."

She paused for a moment wait out more booing.

"That's what I'm here to do, and it is why I am entering this Sunday's Royal Rumble," Bayley announced. "I'm going to win it, and I'm going to go on to Wrestlemania, where I will win the Smackdown Women's Championship. I'll show all of you what it's like to be represented by a real role model."

Dropping the microphone, Bayley felt pleased with the way she had delivered the promo. She felt confident that she had set the right tone for her new character and started to get her new attitude over. Of course her facial expressions and the way she was dressed would also have helped with that.

With her music playing, she left the ring. The first thing she planned to do when she got back to the locker room was check her phone to see how the promo had been received by the TV audience. If they were shitting on it, she had a problem. If they were shitting on her, it had gone well.

Bayley walked through the curtain to the back. She got no feedback on her performance because Gorilla was full, with all of the competitors in an upcoming six man tag team match in there, chatting loudly to each other.

Seth was waiting for her in the hallway when she exited Gorilla. He was smiling. Knowing him as well as she did, she could read into the smile that he thought she had smashed the promo.

"Great job, angel," he said, giving her a peck on the lips.

"Thank you," Bayley smiled broadly. "You think it went well?"

"I do. And I think you look absolutely stunning, too. I can't get enough of you in a suit, looking like a real businesswoman."

"You like that, huh?" Bayley said thoughtfully. "Alright, Mr Rollins, speaking of business, we're heading home after the rumble, so you can put a suit on too and we'll go restaurant hunting."

"I sold you on that idea, Mrs Rollins?" Seth said, pleased to hear it.

"You did. I think it should definitely be our next project, so long as we can find the right place."

Seth smiled. "Agreed. But first, you've got to win the rumble."

Bayley laughed as they started walking along the hallway. "Idiot, I'm not going to win the rumble."

"You don't know that," he pointed out. "Vince hasn't told anyone who's winning either of them yet. Maybe we both will?"


	3. Chapter 3

Number twenty six was the one Bayley had been given for her entrance into the women's Royal Rumble. Pleasingly, her music was greeting with notable booing when it dropped. The fans seemed to dislike her new character already.

Some of the reactions that Bayley had seen on social media to her promo on Smackdown had surprised her. There had been people saying it had come across as sounding natural because she actually believed she was better than other people. That wasn't true at all, but it also seemed to be an opinion that some of her colleagues shared. Dana Brooke had let that out of the bag. It had told Bayley that she needed to make more effort to be kind and supportive towards people. It had always been something she was proud of, so it hurt that she had apparently let it slip.

In a manner befitting her new character, Bayley sauntered out into the stadium. There was no chance of her running to the ring. For the first time, she was wearing her new style of ring attire. She had ordered several similar sets, comprising pants and sports bras. The front of the bras had her name in capital letters, with BAY above LEY. All of the sets were the same style, with only the colours changing. The one she had chosen on this occasion was primarily black, with silver flashes and lettering.

The ring had a lot of people in it, which was perfect for her to arrive and start laying waste to some of them. It was also an opportunity to debut the new finishing move that she was going to start using. It was similar to a forward Russian leg sweep, which would drive the opponent's face into the mat. It was a simple move, but it would be effective if sold properly. She had chosen to name it the Life Lesson, fitting with her new Role Model nickname.

Bayley rolled under the bottom rope, unnoticed by the competitors. She was able to come at Sarah Logan from behind and drop her with the Life Lesson. The new move got a nice 'ohhh' from the crowd.

With Logan selling the finisher like she was pretty much knocked out, Bayley hauled her up to her feet and threw her over the top rope into elimination.

Next came Liv Morgan, who also took the Life Lesson, soon following her former teammate over the top rope.

Dana Brooke was next. She found herself on the receiving end of the Life Lesson, and was promptly eliminated.

The booing was getting louder by the second as she tore through the field, Bayley heard. It pleased her greatly. And she still wasn't done. Nikki Cross was her next target. The fans booed as she was taken out by the latest Life Lesson.

Bayley picked Cross up and bundled her over the top rope, enjoying the boos. As she turned back around to face the middle of the ring, Lacey Evans appeared as if from nowhere. A Woman's Right blasted Bayley in the face, taking her clean off her feet and over the top rope. She had gone from being on a roll to being eliminated in a matter of seconds, and the crowd had popped for it big time.

Bayley rose to a kneeling position and pounded the floor in frustration, looking back into the ring. Taunting her, Lacey posed by wiping her brow with a handkerchief. After a moment, she went back to fighting.

To the outrage of the crowd, Bayley got back into the ring and rushed Lacey from behind. She knocked the sassy southern belle down and started stomping the hell out of her, almost frantic in her anger. After a full thirty seconds of that, Evans was thoroughly beaten down. Bayley dragged her to her feet and threw her over the top rope. Despite the fact that Bayley was no longer in the match, Lacey's feet touching the floor still constituted elimination.

With her part in the night's action now over, Bayley left the ring. Several referees remonstrated with her for her actions, ordering her to get back to the locker room. Bayley made sure to give them some mouth back before turning to walk back up the aisle.

Just as Bayley started up the aisle, the countdown to the next entrant finished. Sasha Banks' music played. Even in kayfabe, the two women were friends. When they passed each other, Bayley made a show of passing on some encouragement for Sasha to succeed where she had just failed.

Happy with her brief night's work, Bayley continued her walk to the back. Happily, she received some abuse from the fans along the aisle in the process.

The rest of the night was going to be particularly enjoyable, Bayley thought. She passed through Gorilla and started heading for the locker room, looking forward to spending the rest of the night watching her best friend win one rumble match, then her husband win the other in the main event. Realistically, she couldn't have asked for more than that.

* * *

Tuesday was the first day of Seth and Bayley, under their business name Bayllins Property Developers, searching for a restaurant to buy. As agreed, they were conducting the search in Des Moines, a busier city that was only a relatively short drive from home. The restaurant search was only part of the day's agenda, however. A shopping trip was also being incorporated into it.

"I wish we had a better idea of what we're looking for," Bayley said as she and Seth walked hand in hand along one of the city's busiest streets.

"Are you talking about the restaurant or the outfit?" Seth asked.

The purpose of the shopping aspect of the day was for Bayley to put together an outfit for Friday night's Smackdown episode. After the events during the rumble match, it likely wouldn't surprise anyone that her first program back was going to be with Lacey Evans. For the upcoming episode, Bayley had been asked to dress like Lacey for a promo during which she would mock her. Evans would then come out and challenge her to a match.

"I was talking about the restaurant," she replied. "I've got a pretty good idea what to buy for the outfit, in basic terms at least. I want a long skirt for a start. I've always hated the idea of showing my legs on TV."

"I know you have," Seth said sensitively, realising that it wasn't going to be as simple for her as putting a vintage dress on and talking in a theatrical southern accent. It was going to cause her some anxiety. "We'll find the right thing for you, even if it takes us all day."

"Thanks, baby," Bayley smiled at him. She was glad that he understood her as well as he did, and was always supportive.

The morning proved to be pretty much fruitless. When Seth and Bayley stopped for some lunch and a coffee, they had visited several clothes stores and left empty handed. They had seen a couple of empty premises that were for sale, but both had been ruled out immediately as too small for a restaurant.

"Let's hope for more luck this afternoon," Seth said as they left the cafe where they had eaten lunch. While paying at the counter, he had asked the woman who served him if she knew of any decent sized commercial units for sale, ideally former restaurants. She had directed them to a couple of places, but had said that neither of them had been restaurants in the past. They had decided that they would check both of them out before heading home.

"Hey, this might be a good place to check out," Bayley said as they walked by a clothes store. The displays in the windows showed off vintage style clothes exactly like the ones that Lacey wore when she was in character.

"You're right," Seth said. "Let's go in and have a look."

Entering the store, Bayley smiled to herself as she thought about how much Seth hated clothes shopping. He liked the results when she bought something nice to wear, but he certainly didn't enjoy being there while she chose it. With that in mind, she decided to try not to take too long while browsing.

Fifteen minutes later, she had selected a dark grey blouse and a long black skirt that she liked the look of. They were of course vintage in style, but they were not over the top, in her opinion. She wanted to fit the criteria that Vince had given her, without ending up looking like an idiot.

Having changed into the proposed outfit in one of the fitting rooms, Bayley looked at herself in a full length mirror. "God," she groaned. The outfit would probably have looked great on Lacey, as the style suited her. On the other hand, it definitely didn't suit Bayley, she thought.

With a sigh, Bayley walked back out into the store to show Seth how she looked. He was standing near the entrance to the fitting room area, holding her coat for her. She could tell by his expression that he liked what he saw before he said anything.

"I don't exactly like it, but I think it's the best it's going to get," she said reluctantly.

"I like it, honestly. You look sexy," Seth said.

"You would say that," Bayley replied, managing a smile.

"Yeah, I would, because it's true. I was just thinking, you need some accessories, too. Think about what Lacey wears. You should get a hat and some gloves."

"I suppose you're right," Bayley grumbled. "Let me go and change back out of this stuff and we'll look around.

A few minutes later, dressed in her comfortable jeans, t-shirt and jacket, Bayley re-joined Seth in the store. He continued to hold onto her coat, and took the items that she was going to purchase. Nearby, there was a small section of the store where hats were on display.

"I have no idea what I'm looking at here," Bayley said, shaking her head as they started browsing. "I should have asked Lacey to come with me." She picked up a couple of hats and tried them on, looking at herself in a mirror and asking Seth for an opinion.

"What about this one?" he suggested, picking up a grey hat that was almost the same colour as the blouse. If either of them had known more about hats, they would have known that it was called a cloche.

Bayley tried it on, looking at her reflection. "I guess," she shrugged. "Maybe I'm worrying about this too much? It's one stupid segment. Let's just buy this one. It's not like I'm ever going to wear it again after Friday."

"If that works for you, it works for me," Seth said, not managing to hide his pleasure that the end of the laborious shopping mission might be in sight.

"Okay, gloves next, then we're done," Bayley said, looking around the store to see if there were any on sale.

"Your favourite thing," Seth chirped, trying to needle her. It was a longstanding thing in their relationship that he would mock her for having what he called OCD because she always insisted on wearing gloves to carry out any task that might get her hands dirty, even something as simple as washing dishes. It annoyed her at times. After all, what was wrong with having clean hands?

Bayley just rolled her eyes at him as they walked around the store. "Ah, over there," she said, spotting a small display in corner of the store. They walked over there, and she surveyed the rather small selection of gloves on offer.

"I think long ones would look good," Seth opined. "The top you're buying has short sleeves."

"Listen to Mr Fashion over here all of a sudden," Bayley laughed. "Okay, what about these?" She picked up a pair of black leather opera gloves. There were not cheap, but they did look well made, from good quality leather.

"I like," Seth said. "Try them on."

Bayley did so, finding putting them on not to be the easiest task in the world. Eventually, she accomplished it and looked at herself in the mirror. The leather had a shiny quality to it, making her look quite glamorous. "What do you think?"

"Honestly? I think they're hot. I know you don't like this vintage look you're going to have to go with Friday, but I do. It's sexy."

"Is that a fact?" Bayley said doubtfully.

"It is," he assured her. "Right, let's get it all bought, then we can continue our property search."

"You don't have to tell me twice. I've had enough of shopping now myself."

* * *

To round off their day in Des Moines, Seth and Bayley had continued to walk around, looking for vacant properties. The first of the ones recommended by the woman in the café was no good, but the second showed some promise. It was a former bank, on the corner of a busy intersection. The empty unit was large, wrapping around the corner and continuing for a fair distance up both streets, with an entrance at each end, furthest away from the intersection.

"This looks interesting," Seth said. "Although I bet it would cost a lot of money to buy. Then there would be the cost of renovating it. We're talking a lot of expense."

"Are we sure it's the right thing to do?" Bayley asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, I think so. Remember, you have to spend money to make money. If we get a restaurant right, we could make a hell of a lot of money at it."

"True," Bayley nodded. "There's a lot of footfall here, that's for sure."

"Right," Seth acknowledged. Even in the middle of the afternoon, there was a steady stream of people walking along the sidewalk. "What we really want to see is what it's like in the evenings. For a restaurant, we want a lot of people around at dinner time. That would be where most of the money would be made."

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Bayley asked. On business matters, she was often happy to let her man have the driving seat, as he was more clued up on it than she was.

Seth took his phone out of his pocket and took a picture of the 'for sale' sign that was fixed to the building. "Why don't we head home and see if there are more details about this place on their website? Also, we could come out for dinner tomorrow night and swing by here to see how busy it is. We could also look into how many restaurants there are in this area, and see if we can figure out how well they're doing."

"You had me at dinner," Bayley grinned. "Okay, Mr Rollins, let's get out of here and get our researching heads on."


	4. Chapter 4

After they had got home, Seth and Bayley had spent some time looking into the empty unit they had found in Des Moines. The first thing they had discovered was that the price wasn't as astronomical as they had feared it might be. Of course buying the unit would only be part of the cost of getting a restaurant operational. A lot of the financial aspect of it would come in the renovation stage, where the restaurant would need to be kitted out with tables, chairs, and of course a kitchen. Costing it all up was going to take some time, and quite a bit of research. Seth had pledged to take on that job.

"I guess that's it for today then," Bayley said as she closed her laptop down.

"Yes," Seth said, sitting with an arm around her shoulders. "The next step is when we go out for dinner tomorrow night and scope out how busy it is around there."

Seth's phone buzzed, signalling that a message had been received. He picked it up from the arm of the couch and unlocked it.

"Who is it?" Bayley asked.

"It's Chris," Seth said, referring to one of their neighbours who they were good friends with. Seth had messaged him earlier and mentioned their idea of opening a restaurant. "He's saying that opening a restaurant is a lot different to flipping houses. He says without the right knowledge and expertise, we'd really be up against it."

"That's not encouraging," Bayley said.

"No. I just asked him if he thinks it's a bad idea."

The phone buzzed again, and Seth read the message. "Oh, that's interesting," he said.

"What is?"

"He says he knows someone with experience of getting restaurants started. A woman named Melina. He says her and her wife have started two restaurants, providing the practical knowledge while investors provided the finance. They sold their share of the most recent one a couple of months ago."

"Ask him if he thinks they would work with us!" Bayley cried.

Seth was already typing out a message to that effect. A reply soon came through. "He says he'll speak to Melina and have her call me if she's interested."

"That's good. But I guess it will depend on what they want from us."

"Yes. But there's no harm in having a conversation," Seth said as he typed out another brief message.

Bayley leaned forward to put the laptop on the coffee table. "Crap, we forgot to look up how many restaurants there are in the area," she said.

"You're right. We'll do it tomorrow now," Seth replied.

"Okay," Bayley said, turning so that she could give him a peck on the lips. While they had been looking into the potential site for their restaurant, she hadn't been able to stop thinking about the outfit that she was going to have to wear on the upcoming Smackdown episode. She couldn't help feeling that she was going to look like a complete idiot on live TV. Anxiety wasn't something that she suffered from often, but the vintage style outfit was causing it. The potential solution she had come up with to put it on again, in the hope that she might start to feel more comfortable in it. She announced her plan to Seth, and gave her reasoning.

"I think that's a good idea," he said supportively. "If you can get used to wearing it, you'll feel a lot more comfortable in it Friday night. Why don't you go put it on now? When you're done, it's my turn to make dinner."

"This is getting better and better," Bayley grinned. "Okay, babe, I'll go do it now. I just wish this stupid segment was done already, you know?"

Seth gave her a gentle kiss. "I know. It soon will be. Just tell yourself that this time next week it will be over with."

"I will," she said as she got up. If only it was as simple as that, she thought as she went upstairs to their bedroom. The outfit she had purchased was lying on the bed, still in the plastic bags from the store. She unpacked it all, undressed, then put on the new outfit, starting with the skirt, followed by the blouse, then the gloves, and finally the hat.

"Maybe it's not as bad as I first thought," she said under her breath as she stood in front of a mirror. The outfit was in no way something she would have chosen to wear voluntarily, but she supposed she didn't look like a complete idiot.

"No, it's not," Seth said, making her jump as he appeared behind her. She hadn't heard him enter the bedroom. He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and joined her in looking in the mirror.

Feeling his body pressed against her started to turn Bayley on. The urge for sex quickly started to take hold of her, as did the urge to use her hand to cover Seth's mouth. She didn't know why that was such a big turn on for her, but it was. Luckily, he didn't object when she wanted to do it. He was also more than happy to indulge her other fetish, which was to have him tie her up and gag her with duct tape. Occasionally, he would be the one on the receiving end, but she enjoyed it more when it was her. The best guess she could make at why she enjoyed those things was that silencing him with her hand gave her a lot of power over Seth. By contrast, when she was bound and gagged, all power was given up to him. The only problem she had with her mouth covering fetish was that the idea of her hand being drooled on triggered her phobia about dirty hands. For that reason, she would make sure to wear gloves most of the time, which was something else Seth didn't object to. Luckily for her, she already happened to be wearing gloves right now. Not only that, they were the long leather ones that he had described as sexy back at the store.

"How sexy do you think I look?" she asked, allowing her tone to convey that she was feeling in the mood to have some fun.

"Really sexy," Seth said. Leaning down, he moved her hair aside and started nibbling at her neck. It was an easier job with her new shorter hair style.

"Really sexy? Is that all?" Bayley demanded, teasing him.

"Incredibly sexy," he breathed against her skin, sending a delightful shiver down her back. "So sexy it's ridiculous."

"How sexy would I be if you tied me up and taped my mouth while I was dressed like this?" she asked quietly.

"Even sexier," he said, holding her a bit tighter and biting her neck. "I'd have to tie you up tight though, so that you couldn't escape. And I'd have to properly wrap your mouth in tape. No talking for a long time."

Bayley felt herself getting warm and wet. Part of the game they played was that if Seth tied her up, she had to try her best to get free. If she succeeded, she would rub his face in his failure to keep her bound. That happened less and less though, because he had become experienced in how to restrain her. Having her mouth taped the whole time was what drove her over the edge.

"I think you should do that," she said. "But first, I want to have some fun with you."

"I know where this is going," Seth breathed. "That's why you wanted to come in her and put those sexy leather gloves on. All you really wanted was to cover my mouth, you dirty, horny bitch."

"Don't act like you don't enjoy it," Bayley purred. "You always get a hand job out of it, and I know as well as you do that I give good hand jobs."

"You do give good hand jobs," he admitted. "But then I give good oral."

"True." Bayley turned around and shoved him towards the bed. "Get on there, Mister. I'm going to have to take this stupid skirt off."

"I'm not going to complain," Seth said as he did as she had asked. "You look sexy with it on, but sexier without it."

"Shut up and take your jeans off," Bayley said. To start with at least, she was going to be in charge, and she intended to demonstrate it.

While Bayley removed her skirt, Seth did the same with his jeans. Within moments was climbing onto the bed. She began by stacking the pillows up against the bed frame to make a back support for herself. With that done, she moved into position, making herself comfortable, sitting upright.

"Ready?" Seth asked her.

"Yes. Come here," she said.

As he moved over to her, Bayley spread her legs so that Seth could sit between them. Without being instructed, he had also taken off his boxers. She pulled him tightly up against her, and clamped her left hand over his mouth.

"There we go. Now shush, and enjoy," she said.

"Mmmm," Seth sighed, adjusting to the hand covering his mouth. Bayley was good at doing it effectively, while making sure that she didn't prevent him from breathing through his nose.

Gently, Bayley started caressing his rock hard cock. There was no need to rush into pleasuring him. He could be made to wait until she was good and ready to let him come.

"How does that feel?" she asked, talking quietly, right into his ear. "I don't know if we've ever used leather gloves before. Do you like?"

"Mmm hmm," Seth mumbled. He had let his head rest back against her shoulder, and had closed his eyes in order to enjoy the experience to its fullest.

"Brand new leather. I bet that smells nicer than rubber? I bet it feels nicer too?"

"Mmmm," Seth moaned. It sounded like a positive response to Bayley.

Gradually, she quickened the pace of her strokes against his shaft, increasing his pleasure bit by bit. The involuntary muffled noises that he made into her hand served as an indicator of how much he was enjoying it.

"That's it, baby. Let yourself go," she whispered to him.

Seth started moaning louder, straining against her a bit in excitement. His breathing had become heavy.

"Come for Bayley," she encouraged, massaging his cock in her tried and tested way.

Moments later, he started convulsing as an orgasm enveloped him. He cried out into her hand, struggling against it. Then, after he shot his load, she went limp against her.

Bayley felt incredibly turned on by the experience herself. The only negative was that she now had his fluid all over the hand that she had been getting him off with.

"Mmm, seems like you enjoyed," she said, still with her other hand over his mouth. "I need to go and wash that off my glove. I'll be back."

She took her hand away from his mouth, allowing him to gasp in a breath as she wriggled out from behind him.

"I'll have duct tape ready by the time you get back," Seth said, slumped against the pillows while he got his breath.

"Can't wait," Bayley called back to him from the bathroom.


	5. Chapter 5

Prior to Smackdown, Bayley had been summoned to a creative meeting. It was a little unusual, as information would often come from Vince McMahon one on one, or from one of the agents who helped to put matches and segments together.

When she walked into the office that she had been summoned to, Bayley found Vince McMahon at the head of a long table with office chairs down either side of it. With him was a woman named Maria, who was one of the senior writers for Smackdown, despite only being in her thirties. Also there were Lacey Evans, and for some reason, Mandy Rose.

"Hi, everyone," Bayley said, figuring she was the likely the last to arrive. Greetings came back her way as she walked over to sit down next to Maria, with Lacey and Mandy on the opposite side of the table.

The last of the greetings came from Vince, who then brought the meeting to order. "Okay, everyone. We're here to address a couple of things, or you could say to kill two birds with one stone."

Bayley had no idea what he was talking about, so she listened keenly to find out.

"Bayley, Lacey, as you know, you're competing against each other at Elimination Chamber in what will in time be made into a match for the number one contendership for the Smackdown Women's Championship, with the winner entitled to the first shot after Wrestlemania. We now have a finish worked out for that match. Maria, over to you."

"Thank you," Maria said politely, before turning her attention to the wrestlers. "There are actually three objectives here that I've noted at the top of my work. One: Continue getting the fans behind Lacey. Two: Increase the heat on Bayley. Three: Next step for Mandy after her heel turn."

Interesting, Bayley thought. At the Royal Rumble, Mandy had turned heel on Sonya Deville, stabbing her long time teammate and supposed best friend in the back. Apparently, judging by what Maria had just said, that had been done without a further plan in place. That was very WWE.

"So, Bayley, you're going to win the match at Elimination Chamber, thanks to Mandy, who is going to interfere and screw Lacey over. That way, Lacey gets to be the good guy who was wronged, you get to be the bitch who cheated, and Mandy gets to be the bitch who did the screwing."

"Okay, but why?" Mandy asked. To Bayley, she didn't exactly sound thrilled. It was understandable, she supposed. Coming out of a long term on-screen partnership like the one she'd had with Sonya was always going to be hard, even if they were still friends personally.

"Because you look at things in a similar way to Bayley," Vince replied. "You hate the women's division and everyone in it. You hate the fans for how they reacted to the way you eliminated Sonya from the rumble. You decided that the only one you could see eye to eye with was Bayley, so you helped her to beat Lacey. In your eyes, it's the two of you against everyone else."

"So we're going to be a team?" Mandy asked.

"I'd call it an alliance rather than a team," Vince said. "I like the idea of putting you with Bayley as she has a lot of experience to bring to the table. Working with her will help you to go the next level, which is very much what I've wanted for you for a while."

Bayley liked the sound of that. Working with and helping someone less experienced than herself was something she felt she would enjoy. It helped that she saw real potential in Mandy, who was maligned by a portion of the fan base as only being there because Vince liked pretty blondes. That wasn't fair on Mandy, in Bayley's opinion.

"I'll get my match with Sonya though, when she comes back?" Mandy wanted to know.

"You will," Vince nodded. "As you know, Sonya's getting minor surgery to clean her knee up a bit. She'll be back in a couple of months, hopefully, and you'll be working with her then, as promised. But you'll be with Bayley, sometimes managing her, sometimes tagging with her."

"In the interest of being honest with everyone, I had hoped to get a singles push," Mandy said openly, looking around the group, probably gauging if anyone thought she was out of order. Bayley didn't. In her opinion, there was nothing wrong with ambition.

"And you will, in time," Vince assured her. "Think of working with Sonya as your starting point on the main roster. This is your next step, then you'll be ready to go it alone."

"Alright," Mandy nodded, seeming to accept that at face value. She looked at Bayley. "Please don't take that as me saying I don't want to work with you. I'm looking forward to it."

Bayley smiled back at her, appreciating the kind words.

"You haven't said anything, Bayley," Vince pointed out.

"I've just been listening," Bayley said. "I like the idea of working with Mandy, and I think it makes sense for my new character to have someone do her dirty work for her when a situation calls for it. Let's do it, I say. If I might make a suggestion, though, I think changing Mandy's character might be a good idea."

"Explain," Vince instructed.

Bayley noticed that Mandy also looked interested in hearing what she had to say. "I'm thinking Mandy just turned on Sonya, right? And she's going to help me beat Lacey. But are those couple of things enough? Shouldn't we see a notably new Mandy Rose?"

"I think she's right," Lacey said, making her first contribution to the meeting.

"Notably new in what way?" Mandy asked, while Vince sat back and listened to the exchange.

Bayley decided to think aloud and see what reactions she got. "Picture yourself wearing a leather jacket and jeans. Black lipstick. Maybe with your hair in a ponytail. You would look a lot different to God's Greatest Creation."

"The Black Rose," Maria said.

"The Black Rose! I like that!" Vince exclaimed. Bayley knew right then and there that the decision had been made to go with her idea. If something grabbed him like that, he invariably went with it. Luckily, Mandy seemed to like it too.

"Okay, that seems like a good idea," Mandy said. "It's kind of like I'll be Bayley's hired muscle, only without actually being hired. I can't think of a better way to put it."

"I'd say that's pretty accurate. We'll go with it. I'll have the team start looking at some new concept art for The Black Rose," Vince said. He moved on to talking to Lacey about the plans for her, before bringing the meeting to a close.

First to leave the office, Bayley held the door for Mandy.

"Thanks," Mandy said. Once they were a short distance along the hallway, she ventured a question. "Do you think I sounded too selfish in there? I didn't mean to if I did."

"No, I don't," Bayley assured her. "You were saying your piece to fight your own corner. We all have to do that. With Vince, staying silent in the background gets you nowhere."

Consider that the first piece of advice of this mentorship, Bayley thought.

"Okay, good," Mandy said, smiling. "Thank you for coming up with the idea for my new character. Honestly, I've felt like I haven't really had a character for a long time."

"I think that's a problem for a few of the ladies," Lacey said from behind them. "Sorry, I hope you don't mind me jumping in?"

"Of course not," Bayley said, moving over so that there was room for the three of them to walk together.

"Mandy, if I can give you a suggestion, I would say push for your character to be a real nasty," Lacey said.

"You mean, like, cruel? Vicious?" Mandy asked.

"That's exactly what I mean."

"I agree," Bayley said. "We'll push for it together, if you like? Having both of us behind it might be more convincing."

"Sure, that sounds good," Mandy said. "I'll be off TV until Elimination Chamber, so while I'm at home I'll practice looking mean, and I'll get myself a bunch of new outfits and ring attire."

"Meanwhile, I'll be out there tonight trying to look like Lacey," Bayley said, cringing.

"Y'all will look great," Lacey beamed.

"I can't wait to see your outfit," Mandy said.

I can't wait for it to be over, Bayley thought as the group neared the women's locker room. Before they went in, Mandy spoke up. "Bayley, can I have a quick word first?"

"Sure," Bayley said as Lacey went into the locker room. "And you can call me Bay," she added, moving a distance away from the locker room door. What's on your mind?"

Mandy sighed, looking awkward and embarrassed. "The thing is, ever since I signed with WWE, I've been with Sonya. We trained together. We worked on NXT together. We were called up to the main roster at the same time, and put on a team. She's my best friend, and I've never done this by myself. With her off the road, I have no one to travel with until she comes back. This week has been awful. After Elimination Chamber, could I please travel with you and Seth?"

It didn't require much consideration for Bayley. Travel was the worst part of the job, and having to do it alone would make it so much worse. "I'd have to ask Seth, but I'm fine with it. I'm sure he will be too," she said.

"Thank you, I appreciate that a lot," Mandy smiled.

"You're welcome," Bayley said, glad that they were getting off on the right foot. With that, she led the way into the locker room. It was time for the moment she had been dreading – putting on the vintage outfit. Wearing it in the locker room was going to be hard enough, let alone out in the arena later on.

While she put the vintage clothes on, Bayley recapped the meeting for Sasha.

"I think you and Mandy will make a good team," Sasha said once she had heard it all. "Not as good as us though, obviously."

"Obviously," Bayley giggled as she put her hat on, completing her new look. Reluctantly, she spread her arms to show off to her friend. "How do I look?"

"Like a sexy lady," Sasha said approvingly.

"I wish I felt like it," Bayley grumbled. "The quicker I get this promo over with the better."


	6. Chapter 6

Bayley and Lacey's segment was the third of the night on Smackdown. Waiting in Gorilla for a commercial break to end, Bayley took a moment to try and get her nerves under control. All of her friends and colleagues had told her she looked great in the vintage style outfit. If only she felt that way herself, she wouldn't have had a problem. However, she did expect the wait to be worse than the actual experience. Once she was out there in the ring, delivering the promo well would be enough to keep her mind occupied.

Bayley's music hit the moment the show came back from commercial. The intro was greeted by some booing, which was pleasing to her. The music didn't fit the temporary look at all, she thought as she walked through the curtain. The commentators would now be making her appearance their talking point. It would be obvious right away that her intention was to mock Lacey Evans.

On her way down the ramp, Bayley copied some of Lacey's mannerisms, deliberately going over the top and making herself look stupid.

She went through Lacey's entire entrance routine before getting a microphone. Her music faded out, and she launched right into her best, or worst, southern drawl. "Y'all sheep were really pleased when Lacey Evans eliminated me from the Royal Rumble, weren't you?"

A cheer of agreement came from the fans, which Bayley made sure not to look pleased about.

"Y'all can cheer, but that just shows how misguided you are. The truth is that you should never cheer a nasty thing like Lacey Evans. You should cheer someone you can actually look up to. You should cheer a true role model. You should cheer Bayley."

The intro to Lacey's music blared through the speakers, drawing a cheer from the fans and an angry look towards the stage from Bayley.

Lacey made her way to the ring, doing a much classier version of her entrance routine. Bayley glared at her as she waited impatiently.

"Sweetheart," Lacey said once she had a microphone, "there was only one time anyone cheered for you on Sunday night. That was when you almost got your jaw broke with the woman's right and went flying over the top rope."

Remembering Bayley's elimination from the rumble match, the crowd cheered again. For her part, Bayley looked furious. But Lacey wasn't done.

"You stand there trying to look classy, like Lacey Evans. But you look like exactly what you are: a trashy, nasty thing with absolutely no class or sophistication. Honey, you look as bad as your breath smells."

"My breath doesn't smell!" Bayley yelled, not using her microphone.

"Here's the thing, Bayley," Lacey continued. "Punching your stupid face is something I could get used to. So why don't you and I have ourselves a little match tonight, and I'll give you a repeat performance?" She made a point of looking at her clenched gloved fist.

"Alright," Bayley said combatively. "Alright, Lacey. You want a match? You've got one. But it won't be tonight. No, I'm not dressed to wrestle tonight."

The fans booed, and Lacey rolled her eyes as if she had totally expected the cowardice.

"You can have your match at Elimination Chamber," Bayley said. "And when I win, it will prove who the classy role model really is."

"Okay, Bayley, I'll see you at Elimination Chamber. But before you go?" Lacey blasted her foe with another woman's right, knocking her out cold, to the delight of the fans.

Lying on the mat selling the punch, Bayley took pleasure in the reaction it had received. Her character was attracting heat, the rivalry was building, and best of all, the segment that she had been dreading was now over.

* * *

Seth's match that night was the penultimate segment of the show. By then, Bayley was happily changed out of the vintage outfit, never to return if she had anything to do with it.

The newlyweds had a custom where they would often meet each other backstage after their segments or matches. This time it was Bayley who waited for Seth.

"Hey," he said, coming down the hallway looking tired and sweaty after a long triple threat match. Shinsuke Nakamura and Dolph Ziggler were not far behind him.

"I would hug you, but you're a bit sweaty. Great match, though," Bayley said as he neared her.

"Thanks. It was good fun," Seth said.

Bayley exchanged a few brief pleasantries with the other two competitors, before she was left alone with her man. "No injuries?" she asked.

"Nope," Seth was happy to report. "And you got your segment out of the way. I told you it would be fine."

"You did. I knew it too. I'm just glad it's over."

"Shame. I thought you looked sexy in that outfit."

"Yes, you mentioned that," Bayley said dryly. "Maybe I'll wear it again one day at home."

Seth grinned. "I'll hold you to that."

"I said maybe," she pointed out.

"You're gonna be the one that saves me," Seth sang, launching into the famous Wonderwall lyrics.

"Oh my god," Bayley mumbled, shaking her head.

"You love my singing."

She laughed. "I really don't."

"At least the romance isn't dead," he quipped. "Come on, I need to hit the shower."

They started walking slowly towards the locker rooms as Seth's memory was jogged. "Oh, I got a call from Melina Perez earlier. You remember she's the woman with experience starting up and running restaurants?"

"Yes, her and her wife," Bayley recalled. "What did she say? Are they interested in meeting with us?"

Seth nodded. "They are. I said the earliest we would be able to meet them was this coming Wednesday, and Melina said that works for them. So, I set it up."

"We're going to talk about opening a restaurant?" Bayley asked excitedly.

"We're going to talk about opening a restaurant," he was happy to confirm. "I'm going to have to crunch some numbers, but we're only going to get into bed with these guys if the finances are right, and after they've given us references. I want to eat in at least one restaurant they've been responsible for first hand."

"What a good idea," Bayley said, unconsciously echoing one of her memorable moments as Raw's Commissioner. "I hadn't thought of that, Seth."

"Stick with me, babe. I'll be the brains of the operation," Seth said cheekily.

"You'll be the one getting a kick in the balls, mister."

* * *

Ahead of the meeting with Melina Perez and Thea, her wife, Seth had requested some information on their past projects. Before discussing the new venture with them, he had wanted to see what they were capable of producing. It was an idea that Bayley very much agreed with, which was why on Tuesday night they found themselves getting out of a taxi outside a restaurant called Diego's.

"Good first impression," Bayley said. From the outside, the restaurant looked modern, yet warm and welcoming. It was also packed with customers, which was obviously the best indicator of its success.

"I like those awnings," Seth said. There was a small one above each window. They were black, with the name of the restaurant in red lettering.

"I can picture us having something like that, with Bayley's on it," she said. She was still as in love with the idea of naming the place after her as she had been when Seth had first proposed it.

"Let's go in," Seth said. He walked over and led the way inside, holding the door for her.

Upon entering, Bayley's first impression was that Diego's was a little too formal for her taste, and maybe not quite as warm and welcoming as she had first thought. There was something about the uniforms that the servers were wearing that seemed a bit too smart, and the decor of the place gave her that vibe too. "I'd like our place to be a little less... I don't even know the word I want to use."

"You'd want it to be a bit more relaxed? Comfortable?" Seth guessed.

"Yes. Also, it's a good idea to offer something a bit different considering we'll only be a couple of miles away from this place," Bayley said as they waited to be seated.

"Good evening, sir, ma'am," a male server said, greeting them with a professional smile.

"Evening," Seth said. "We have a table for two. Rollins."

The server looked at a list on the tablet he was carrying. Bayley glanced at Seth, impressed with the tech aspect of it. He gave her a look that said he agreed.

Upon finding their name, the server looked up at them and smiled. "Follow me, please."

On her way to the table, Bayley had another look around. In truth, any criticisms were minor, and centred around style choices rather than the ability of the people who had set up the business. There was a lot to be impressed with. The true test would be the food, of course. Customers ultimately judged a restaurant by what they ate there. She imagined that Melina had an eye for recruiting a good team of chefs, and if so, that would be invaluable. Obviously neither she or Seth had any contacts or experience in that regard.

After they had been seated, she voiced what she had been thinking to Seth.

"You're right," he said. "As much as I'd love us to be able to do it all ourselves, the fact is that opening a restaurant is a lot more complicated than flipping houses. If we get it right, it'll be the perfect investment to ensure we're financially sound after we retire. But it has to be done right, otherwise it could have the opposite effect. A lot of new businesses fail in their first year. I think our plan should be to keep Melina around for at least a year before we think about buying her out."

"That sounds like a good plan. Of course, we don't know what her intentions or demands will be," Bayley pointed out.

"No, we don't. But we'll find out soon enough. Tomorrow is going to be a very interesting day."

A female server approached them to take their drink order, causing a brief break in the conversation. Once they were alone again, Bayley continued from where they had left off.

"What if she demands too much?" she asked with concern. "You said we don't want to give up more than forty per-cent of the business. What if that's not enough for her?"

"Then we walk away," Seth said. "There's no point in doing a deal if it's not right for us. We're going to be pouring our passion and our money into Bayley's, so I want sixty per-cent of it at the absolute minimum. If that doesn't work for Melina, then I guess we'll have to try and find someone else with her kind of knowledge and expertise. Either way, angel, we'll make this work."

"You promise?" Bayley asked, looking lovingly into his eyes.

"I promise," he said sincerely.


End file.
